ZENworks Application Virtualization 7.1

So, you may or may not have spotted yet (and if not then please explain to me: Why is Download.novell.com not your homepage?) but we have a new release of ZENworks Application Virtualization. Since the purpose of a Blog is to let us speak directly with you about ‘new stuff’ I’m going to take some time out here and talk about the changes in this new product version.

(Notice, no pre-amble this time. Straight to the point. Succinct. I’m interested to know what is preferred – do people want to hear about ‘a day in the life of Product Management’, or should we lose the waffle and cut to the chase?)

The product version for this new release will be 7.1. It’s not a major update, just some fixes and enhancements that were requested from the field (you!).

Platform Support

We are including support for running Virtualized applications on Windows 7. This will help you to migrate from Windows XP (or Vista anyone?) to Windows 7, whilst at the same time reducing or removing any need to have lengthy product/application compatibility testing programs. Whilst we realise that you will still want to test all those older applications – or possibly have a need to upgrade them – as part of a move to this new platform, we also realise that time and resource is of the essence. Providing the ability to run these applications as ZENworks Virtualized Applications on Windows 7 will simplify the migration process, and allow you the time to test/upgrade those applications outside the pressure of an operating system migration.

Application Expiration

It is now possible to configure an application – at build time – so that it will only work for a set number of days, or will expire on a set date. At the same time messages can be set to warn the user of the application status; one message for ‘Application is to expire in xx days’, and another ‘This application has expired’ when it is out of date.

General Enhancements

A new setting to isolate Virtual application window instances from non-virtual application window instances. This will prevent any interaction between ‘installed’ and ‘virtualized’ versions of the same application running no a device.

The supported runtimes have been enhanced. We now include SQL Server 2005 Express and improvements in the .Net 3.5 Client Profile.

The method of publishing an application that is USB drive optimized has been improved. When a virtualized application is created specifically for use on a USB drive it will now do three things:

When the USB drive is connected the application on it will be registered to the workstation

When the USB drive is disconnected the application on it will be de-registered from the workstation

The USB drive becomes the sandbox for the application, making this type of virtualized application truly portable between devices and ensuring that NO footprint is left on the host device.

Finally, we have a new tool: XREG

This controls the methods of registration for a virtualized application with the host device, benefits of the XREG command are:

It is possible to register a virtual application with a host device, this means that file associations and shortcuts can be created and managed automatically.

Allows for multiple virtual applications to be registered to a ‘shared’ sandbox location on the host workstation

Used to unregister a virtual application and remove all associated settings.

So, there you go. Get on over to http://download.novell.com and give it a try. As ever there is a test licence included with the download.

Thanks for reading!!

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Disclaimer: This content is not supported by Novell. It was contributed by a community member and is published "as is." It seems to have worked for at least one person, and might work for you. But please be sure to test it thoroughly before using it in a production environment.